In a hilarious display of a tragic, partisan reaction to Obama’s dismal debate performance, Chris Matthews’ yelling hissy fit on MSNBC last Wednesday night was the stuff of comedy gold. Capitalizing on the clip of Matthews’ meltdown gone viral, “Saturday Night Live” perfectly captured the MSNBC host and his fellow panelists’ reaction to the surprisingly stoic and weak performance from the president.
The Reverend Al Sharpton, Rachel Maddow, Al Gore, Chris Matthews and conservative commentator S.E. Cupp were all targets of SNL’s mocking, but the segment featuring Matthews took the cake as he discussed Obama taking a “dump” behind the podium, in what SNL’s Cecily Strong (portraying Maddow) called “The worst thing that ever happened anywhere.”
“Disappointed? I’ve never been so disgusted in my life,” said Jason Sudeikis portraying Chris Matthews. “I feel bad for whoever had to move the podiums afterwards because Obama took a giant huge dump behind his.”
Sudeikis then poked fun at Matthews’ famous “Hardball” shouting and interrupting interview style, offering Obama advice on how to win future debates. “Why was he letting Governor Romney talk? He forgot the first rule of debating – always be interrupting. When I don’t have points to make on my show, I make up for it by screaming at people. That’s how you win a debate.”
As Maddow (Strong) turned to Sharpton for reaction, even former vice president Al Gore was the target of ridicule as Sharpton (played by Kenan Thompson) employed Gore’s pathetic excuse for Obama’s sad showing at the debate.
“Well I think he did bad, but… I would like to now make an excuse for why he was bad. You see, Obama was poisoned by the altitude,” Thompson said referring to Al Gore’s explanation that it was Obama’s lack of adjustment to the mile high city’s atmosphere that contributed to his resounding loss. Thompson took the joke a step further by stating, “Now Obama’s from Hawaii, which is a mile below the earth – so for him, speaking in Colorado was like being flown two miles straight into the air and then having to give a speech from outers pace.”
Conservative author and TV pundit S.E. Cupp was also featured in the sketch, played by Vanessa Bayer, and seen smiling and enjoying the meltdown around her. “I’m just happy to listen and smile,” Bayer said. “I believe the term is ‘gloating’,” she said with a huge grin and arms in the air.
Thompson’s other excuses for Obama’s lackluster performance included Colorado’s location in the Western Hemisphere (implying Washington D.C. is not), jet lag, and also a “Freaky Friday” scenario in which Romney and Obama switched bodies backstage before the debate.
Though pure observation and even stringent analysis would declare Mitt Romney the winner of last week’s debate, the ensuing MSNBC meltdown and SNL sketch proved just how disastrous the debate truly was for the incumbent.
